Syringes incorporating tubular-shaped spouts are known and such prior art devices are employed, for example, to extract the liquid contents of a container and dispense the extracted liquid to the mouths of infants or into baby bottles or other receptacles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,906, issued Jan. 24, 1995, for example, discloses an integrated nursing bottle and liquid medication dispensing apparatus which utilizes a syringe mounted coaxially within the baby bottle to dilute the contents of the bottle with fluid from the syringe. Such patent, however, does not address problems encountered when extracting the liquid contents of a container through use of a syringe.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,525, issued Nov. 12, 1996, discloses a bottle with a closure element for receiving a syringe having a spout and cooperable with the syringe to extract the bottle contents. When transferring the liquid, the bottle remains upright and liquid flows through a tube having an inlet at or near the bottle bottom. Of course, with such an arrangement extraction of all or substantially all the liquid is not assured. For example, the tube inlet may be displaced from the bottom and spaced from the liquid at the bottom, especially if the bottle is tilted. Furthermore, the tube adds to the complexity and cost of the device. Also, air may enter the syringe from the tube, at least during the initial stage of extraction.
Syringes incorporating spouts do not cooperate with existing prior art containers in such a way as to ensure removal of virtually all the contents of the container when such contents are transferred through the spout into the syringe barrel interior by retracting the plunger of the syringe. That is, utilizing prior art approaches, extracting the liquid contents of the container with a syringe can and often does leave a significant portion of the liquid in the container.
This problem is solved through use of the invention disclosed and claimed herein wherein an obstruction member such as a plug is located at the container outlet. The obstruction member cooperates with the spout of a syringe positioned in an opening formed in the obstruction member to form a fluid-tight seal therebetween and to simultaneously position the spout relative to the obstruction member with the distal end of the spout located either in the passageway or projecting from the passageway toward the container interior and disposed closely adjacent to the inner surface of the obstruction member.
Devices are disclosed in existing patents which cooperate with a syringe having an injection needle to position the needle relative to a bottle of medicine or the like for purposes of locating the needle relative to the container. Such arrangements are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,047, issued Aug. 31, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,406, issued Oct. 18, 1994, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,878, issued Nov. 21, 1995.
These latter prior art arrangements are not suitable for use with a syringe having a spout rather than a needle. Furthermore, such prior art arrangements do not cooperate with a syringe in such a manner as to promote extraction of virtually all of the contents of a container by the syringe.